New Cruel World
by Hellion5Angel4
Summary: Blair Avery was unprepared when the world turned sour. The dead had risen, everyone spoke of the Apocalypse. Unfortunately, the end never came. Trapped in a horrible group of survivors, no escape in sight, she learns the only person you can rely on is yourself. But what if everything she learns isn't the truth?
1. Chapter 1

**I've kinda abandoned my first Daryl story, but fear not! This is a new one. I ran out of directions to take the last story, so I'm just starting over. Forgive me if there are several mistakes in the stories, I just got acrylic nails and I'm re-learning to type with them on. So, please, have pity lol I don't own anything or anyone from The Walking Dead. I receive no gain from this story; it's for fun and entertainment. Chapter 1!**

It was starting to get colder now. The leftover water from the day's thunderstorm still soaked the ground we knelt upon. The screams filled the air, sending us shivering even more than we had already been. Tonight was the night of The Decision. Women, and girls, were sent upon the small council of 3, to be decided upon if they were deemed unfit to continue on with the group. If you were deemed unfit, you were sent to a gruesome death; eaten alive by the dead. Most of us would have preferred that compared to our every day fate. The men did the hunting, but everything else was left to the women. 10 women for 15 men. Used is the best way to describe it. Cooking, cleaning, and sex. The men, led by Michael, sit around and do nothing but get served by the women. If you revolt, you are up for a bad Decision. "Lauren!" I take a deep breath, stand to my feet, and send a glance back to the other women. I walk around the camp, heading for the main tent, being followed by an armed guard. I know my name is up for a bad decision.

After a week of being used for sex by the 15 men we cater to, I grew sick and tired of it. I put up a fight and broke one of the men's noses. My heart pounded in my chest, louder with each step. But I knew I was automatically up for death. I couldn't risk being thrown to the dead with no weapon, and God only knows how many there would be down in the pit. I felt sick as I reached my decision. I stopped at the water supply, feeling a small nudge in my back. "You're supposed to keep going." I turned around to face Miguel. He was an attractive guy, the one who found me. I took a step closer to him, lowering my voice so only the two of us could hear what I said. "Miguel, you and I both know what shape my name is in tonight. I'm dead food, for sure. The least you could do is let me get a drink before I'm scheduled to die. Please?" He seemed to be the only one in the camp to have a heart. He sighed, stepped back and nodded. Fortunately, the water supply was near the woods. I took two, then three cool drinks of the water before I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. I turned around and looked at him as I walked closer. Then I jumped at him, raising my knee to hit him in the chest.

He bent forward, dropping his gun, and I seized opportunity. I grabbed the back of his head and puled it down with all the force I could find onto my knee, sending him limp and to the ground. No one had noticed what I had just done. I quickly snatched his gun and ran past the water supply and into the thick woods surrounding us. I heard my name being shouted moments later. They were in pursuit. I was afraid as the thickets and brambles cut at my legs, but I couldn't stop to care. The thin night gowns and slipper shoes we women were allowed to wear, weren't meant for the abuse of running and fighting. All the concern as I had about not planning this out, was pushed into the back of my mind. The main thing I focused on was distance. I had to run as fast and far as I could to get away from them. I ran past a creek, over an empty hillside, and pushed myself to go further. Satisfied with my distance in a few moments, I leaned over, resting my hands on my knees, and gulped in fresh air. My side ached with stiches, but I knew I would have to ignore them. I took one final, deep breath, and started running again. As the sun began to rise, my pace had slowed considerably.

I was at a good, steady jog. I stepped into a clearing and saw one of the dead before me. This was how it had to be, now. Alone, fighting, fending for myself. I held the gun and looked down the sight, aiming for it, then pulled the trigger. The bullet lodged in his shoulder. I went to shoot again, but the gun wouldn't work. Among all my knowledge of random things, I could only assume the gun was jammed. I turned around and found 2 coming up behind me. Fear tightening in my chest, I skirted past the one and past a tree with exposed roots. I was grabbed from behind and I tripped, automatically feeling a pain in my ankle. I looked back and saw my night gown snagged on a root. The three dead were closing in on me, and fast. And I settled in to the fact that this would be how I died. Covered in my blood and muck from the ground. In a thin night gown and slippers. Without a fight. I laid down, looking at the blue sky between the leaves of the tree I only wished I had a cigarette and a drink. But such luxuries were hard to find in this world, let alone to have at the time you want them the most. The three were only a few feet from me, and I was ready. I looked the first in the eye.

A tattered business shirt, remnants of an electric blue tie, ripped and shredded khakis. He must have been a business man from Atlanta. A jolt from the body and he fell forward, landing inches away from me, an arrow sticking out of the back of his head. One of the other two turned and moved towards the distraction. Panic flooded me, they found me. Already caught up to me and ready to kill me themselves. Carry my body back to camp to make an example out of me. The last remaining one staggered towards me. I heard a loud bang and felt pain in my head. The one remaining dead turned around, and another loud bang. I heard a voice, steeped in Southern accent cursing. "I fucking told you I had him. Now you probably killed her too." I kept my eyes closed and stayed still. My head stung like hell, but I didn't know what these people wanted. The sounds of footsteps grew closer and I heard the sound of a knife coming out of a sheath. I felt tugging on my nightgown and then I was picked up. A woman's voice came next. "And what the hell are you doing?" The man who had picked me up, carried me up the embankment and back to the path. "We're taking her back. I ain't listening to no arguments neither. You shot twice. If you want to stay here and wait for the walkers, be my guest." I was too tired, too hungry, hurting too badly to keep awake any longer. I let my eyes droop completely closed, and forgot about the world as I slipped into dreams where I was safe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so I might return to my original Daryl story some day, but until I'm struck with inspiration...I'll keep going on this one.**

**All reviews, good or bad, are more than welcomed. And as usual, SweetKiwi...you're my girl. :) Thank you.  
**

**I don't own The Walking Dead or any of the characters from the show I might use in this story. It's for entertainment, and I make no gain off this story, except entertainment and my own happiness.**

At least a day. That was how long I'd slept. I remember waking up once or twice, seeing a bedroom, the sun shining through the windows, then I fell back asleep. The bed was comfortable. But now, I was laying on something hard. As badly as they wanted to stay closed, I forced my eyes open and saw leaves and branches through a mesh top. I was laying in a tent. I heard voices in the distance, the wind slightly rustling the trees, and not much else. I slowly at up, feeling a throbbing in the side of my head. I reached for it, pressing on the wound, and winced. A hundred memories came rushing back at once; me escaping Michael and Miguel, three dead trying to attack me, and having to play possum while I was carried off by a man.

Footsteps approached the tent and I felt panic rush into every limb as a little boy came into view. He knelt down by the opening of the tent, the both of us staring at each other. "You're awake. Are you okay?" I opened my mouth to speak, but heard a woman frantically approaching. "Carl! Get away from her. We haven't had a chance to talk to her yet. You need to go find something else to do." He nodded at her and walked away. I slowly crawled out of the tent, and shakily got to my feet. I came face to face with the woman and three other men. I couldn't think of anything else to do, so I took a deep breath. "Hello." The people seemed on edge, walking on eggshells as they tried to decide what to do. "My name is Rick. How are you feeling?"

My mouth was dry, my head ached like hell, but I wasn't about to complain. "Fine, thank you." This was awkward already. "If you could just give me my things, I'll leave. I won't give you any trouble." Another one of the men stepped forward. "Ain't no way we're gonna let you just walk. We don't know you. You could have fifty people ready to come down on us like rain, and we'd be none the wiser." The voice was harsh, like a whip to my face. Rick gently pressed his hand against the other man. "Shane, hang on just a minute." The man he had called Shane began to protest, then the woman jumped in. "Guys, why don't I take her to get some food. You can hash it out and come find us when you're done." Rick nodded at her. She came over to me, gently guiding me with her arm around my back, towards a camp that was set up.

Tents, a fire, an RV, clothes blew in the breeze. They were actually surviving out here. "I'm Lori. Rick's wife. It's just culture shock, they aren't usually so high strung. Just hard to trust people these days." I sat down in a chair and she grabbed a plate, getting some food from over the fire and handing it to me, with a fork. I took a bite and noticed how hungry I really was. "So what's your name?" I looked at her and sighed. For me, that was a complicated question. In Michael's camp, we were given names. It didn't matter if you already had a name from before, you were stripped of it, renamed, and assigned to a male leader. I shook the thoughts from my head and swallowed the bite of food in my mouth. "Blair." She gave a small smile. "Blair, it'll probably be easier to talk to me than to the men. They're hyped up on testosterone trying to protect the group. What happened to you?"

My father had used a quote often; always have a contingency plan. I couldn't go into the actual history now, but I couldn't out right lie to her. "I was in a group. And we got attacked. Almost everyone died, and the ones that didn't...we just sort of...scattered." I finished the last few bites on my plate and handed it back to her. "Blair, how long were you alone before we found you?" I suddenly got the notion I was being interrogated. But this was the good cop, and if I refused to work with her, I'd get the bad cops. Plural. "I was alone for almost a full day. The day you all found me, we had been attacked the night before. I grabbed the gun I kept under my sleeping bag and I just ran. As far and fast as I could." Remembering the other girls I had left behind to continue to be raped, beaten, murdered, it was enough to make me sick. I held back the gagging sensation and felt tears beginning to form in my eyes.

She took my hands in hers and looked me in the eyes. "We've all lost someone. But they're in a better place now, and we just...have to keep surviving." I nodded and wiped the tears from my eyes, nodding in agreement with her. "Why don't we go find my husband and see if he's been able to cool off Shane. Have a rational discussion." I stood up and followed her inside the white house we were near. The three men were sitting at the table as we sat down and joined them. Lori spoke first. "Guys, this is Blair. She was with a group who got attacked a couple nights ago. She's on her own." Rick slowly nodded, taking in the information, and leaning back in his seat. "Blair, before we get down to brass tacks, you already know Lori, I'm Rick. This is Shane and Daryl. Daryl is the one that found you." I looked at him and offered a small smile of thanks, only to be shut down as he looked down at the table.

"This is an interesting situation. We're not bad people. We've got women, children. We're just trying to make a living in this world. Trying to stay safe. We all work together to try to make everything run as smooth as possible. We've got food, protection, and thanks to a kind man, a place to stay. For now. Now, since you're all on your own, I'd like to make an offer to you; to stay in this group." This felt entirely too much like one of the meetings every month with Michael. I looked around at the people surrounding me and nervously bounced my foot underneath the table. "Why would you do that? Take me in, let me stay?" He folded his hands together on the table top, cocking his head to the side, slightly. "Blair, it's difficult to trust people in this world. Especially now. You don't have to stay, you can go on your own again. We'd send you off with a weapon, if you needed it. But there is always a need for help. Cooking, cleaning clothes, making sure we have ammo, fire wood, there is plenty to be done. If you stayed, you wouldn't be Cinderella with all of the work to do. Everyone pitches in."

Daryl seemed to not be paying any attention to what was going on. I looked at Shane, Lori, then Rick. "If you guys will have me, I'd be more than helpful." Rick smiled at me and stood up, nodding his head. "You're more than welcome to stay. Lori, will you show her where she can sleep?" Lori nodded and stood up, helping me out of the house. "Blair, I'm happy you chose to stay. Like Rick said, we can always use every extra pair of hands we can get." She led me to the RV and walked inside. She hunted through a few cabinets and finally found what she was looking for. "Here's a tent and a sleeping bag. You can set it up anywhere that looks good to you." I smiled and thanked her, then set off to try and find a good spot to set up my camp. This was going to be a long disaster.

**So that was Chapter 2. I hope it was okay, and i didn't forget to do the first person. If I did, I'm sorry. Please Read and Review, whether you liked it or not. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, there is confusion. :( I didn't explain well enough. In the first chapter, they called her Lauren. That was her name given to her by Michael's group. Her real name is Beth Avery. I'm free typing all of this, so if there's anything you don't get, just let me know and I will explain. :)**

**I don't own anything from the walking dead, nor the characters I may use in this story.  
**

~Chapter 3~

Night had fallen around the camp. At dinner, I continuously received suspicious glares from other people in the new group. I was sure Lori could tell I was feeling uneasy when she stood and everyone looked to her. "Everyone, I know you have all seen her. Her name is Blair and she's going to be staying with us for a while. I know it's ...hard to accept new people we don't know, but she's been through a lot." After her little speech, I didn't feel much better. I finished my food and put my plate in a tub full of soapy water. A small, meek voice said my name, and I turned around to find an older woman with short greying hair. "I'm Carol. Lori told me all about you, and said you'd be helping us around camp. I'm doing dishes tonight, but when you wake up tomorrow, could you come and help me with some of the laundry?" I nodded at her. "Yeah. If I'm not awake when you plan on starting, just come and get me."

I walked away and crawled into my tent. I laid back on the sleeping bag and closed my eyes, listening to the sounds around me as I fell into a light sleep. My eyes snapped open and I heard crickets chirping and what sounded like branches snapping. My heart thudded in my chest as I crawled out of my tent and saw a fire crackling some feet away. It wasn't the normal fire in the camp, this was a lone fire. I grabbed my jacket I had been given and slipped it on as I walked towards the fire. As I got closer to it, I saw that is was Daryl's mini camp. I thought, momentarily, about turning away, just going back to my tent and back to sleep. Before I realized it, I was already there. I walked beside the fire and sat down.

He looked at me as he played with the fire. "What do you want?" I looked at him, slightly annoyed with the tone in his voice. "I just wanted to come over and say thank you." He stopped poking at the fire, "For what?" I battled in my head; like he didn't already know. "I was told you were the one who found me." He scoffed and crossed his legs indian style. "Yeah, I found you. Bruises, cuts, torn night gown." He eyed me suspiciously, "Blair, I don't believe your bullshit story for one fucking second. They all believe there is still good people left in the world." I inwardly cursed. I lied about my past, because the one thing I didn't want was pity. Pity for being raped, abused, and taken advantage of. I jumped to my feet and stormed back to my tent. Unable to sleep, I watched the sun come up.

I had been given clothes, a jacket, a pair of boots, and a knife. I shoved it into my boot, and decided to go for a walk in the woods until Carol woke up. I walked past a fence and into the thick trees. I saw several squirrels and birds moving and darting through the tree tops. The breeze in the woods was enough to put anyone on edge. I heard a branch snap and turned around to see if it was anything, but saw nothing.

I walked for a few more minutes when I heard my boots thud. I looked down at my feet and saw I was standing on a large piece of plywood. I bounced one time, feeling the wobble of the wood, then hit my boots twice. Suddenly, the wood gave way and I tumbled down a dark hole a few feet, grabbing onto an exposed tree root at the last second. I caught my breath and looked down. The hole continued further, no bottom in sight.

I looked up and saw the tree tops. It was only a few feet, but it might as well have been a few miles. I had only one choice, "Hello?! Can anybody hear me! I need help!" My yell slightly echoed in the cold dark. I watched the top of the hole, and happiness grew as I saw a head peek in. "Hey! I fell in, can you help me?" The head leaned in further, then its shoulders came into sight. That's when I heard a growl as it fell and almost fell as it clawed onto my boot. The weight of a dead on my foot was worse on my hand. I felt the root biting into my skin.

"No, No! Help!" I screamed as loudly as I could. The growls of the dead, the weight of his corpse hanging by my foot, and my hand was beginning to get slick from my blood. Panic rose in my chest. This could be the end. "Tuck into the wall." I looked up and saw Daryl, crossbow aimed down. I leaned into the side of the hole, and tried to move my leg out, giving Daryl a better shot. He whistled, then an arrow whizzed past me. I felt the weight of the dead leave, "My hand's slipping."

He leaned down the hole and reached for me. "You gotta climb up a few. I can't reach you." My hand ached and hurt as I looked around and saw another root. I lifted my foot and dug it into the wall, pushing up as I grabbed at the root. I felt my fingertips brush the roughness, so I jumped and grabbed it, pulling myself up a little further. "Alright, Blair. Give me your hand." I reached with my free hand and felt his fingertips. I stretched as far as I could until I felt his whole hand in my own. "Good. You gotta help me help you, now. Climb up just a little more." He pulled, and I climbed the best I could, and a moment later, we fell onto the firm ground, my head on his shoulder.

I took a moment to love the hard ground when he jumped out from under me. "Get off me, girl." I stood up and brushed myself off, smearing blood on my jeans. He roughly grabbed my hand and looked at it. "Hershel needs to look at that. Go back to camp." He dropped my hand and started hiking away from me, I didn't move. "Daryl?" He turned around and looked at me. I bit my lip and sighed. "I don't know which way back to camp." He scoffed and walked back towards me and grabbed my arm, half dragging me through the woods. He stopped when the trees thinned out and pushed me into the grassy area. "You see that big, white house? Go there. I got work to do." He pointed at the farm house; I looked where he was pointing, and by the time I looked back, he was already marching through the trees.

I turned back and started my hike towards the house. I was muddy, bloody, and sweaty as I came upon the rest of the group eating around the fire. An old man with gray hair approached me. "Blair?" I stopped and turned to look at him. "We haven't had a chance to talk. I'm Dale." I gave him a simple smile. "Hi. I've got to go see Hershel? Do you know which one that is?" He nodded and guided me up the stairs to the door of the house, knocking on the screened door. Another old man came and pushed it open. "Yes?" He sounded nice, at least. I held my hand up for him to see, and he motioned for me to follow him. "Go into the kitchen and wash it off. Get the dirt out of it, then sit here at the table."

I walked into the kitchen and squirted some liquid soap onto my hand. I turned the water on, making it warm, and bit my lip as I felt it sting. I made sure the dirt was out and turned off the faucet before I went to the table. I sat down and looked around the nice room. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and looked up to see Hershel carrying a bag. He sat it down on the table and took my hand, looking at it. "It's just a few minor scratches. We'll put some alcohol on it, some ointment and a bandage."

After Hershel had bandaged up my hand, I helped Carol hang the wet laundry up to dry, then helped Lori get everything ready for dinner.

**Interesting fact: When I'm typing out my stories, I try to be the character. Like when Blair was down the hole, I was far away from my keyboard, almost stretching to type it. And when Dale comes to her after, I scooted up real close to the computer. Like I'm one on one talking to my computer. Interesting thing I noticed about myself. XP  
**

**Hope you LOVED this chapter as much as I did. Please R&R!**


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